Dressing Down
by Earendil Eldar
Summary: Follow-up to "Silent Support." As soon as Ianto has a moment alone with the rest of the team, he gives them a piece of his mind about their attitude toward their leader.


"Morning," Ianto called from the coffee maker when he heard Jack shuffling about his office. "Coffee, sir?"

Jack checked his watch, coming over to the 'break room.' "Not right now… when I get back?"

"Of course," Ianto said with a pleasant smile.

"Ianto? Thanks," Jack said, pulling on his coat.

"Never a problem, sir," Ianto said, understanding what Jack meant implicitly.

"Might be about… hour and a half. Can you just let the team know when I'll be back if they ask?"

Ianto nodded.

Jack hurried out of the Hub – via the invisible lift – as if he was late from an appointment. Ianto knew Jack had no Torchwood-related business that morning, and Jack would have said if it was a weevil alert or Rift activity. Ianto had the feeling Jack just didn't want to be around when the team all got in that morning, though he'd never say as much.

Tosh was, as always, the second one in (after Ianto) at 8:40. "Good morning!" she called, hanging up her jacket and powering up computers. "Can you let me know when coffee's on, Ianto?"

"Yep," Ianto called back.

"Jack?"

"Out," Ianto informed her, though he wasn't sure she heard as she was already typing commands for what looked like six programs at once.

Owen managed to get in at 8:54, but with noticeably bloodshot eyes that the eye-drops weren't doing much to conceal. Ianto had enough sleepless nights to know drops did nothing for the puffiness.

"Don't tell me coffee isn't on _yet_?" Owen moaned loudly.

"Will be in a few minutes," Ianto shouted back, just a bit louder than necessary. He wished he could say that Owen's wince wasn't satisfying, but it was.

It was 9:12 by the time Gwen hurried in, apologizing for running late, as if it was unexpected by then. "Coffee on?" she asked hopefully.

"Is now," Ianto replied. "Coffee's in the board room."

The rest of the team paused, wondering momentarily if there was a meeting they'd forgotten or if the Rift had some new game for them to chase. None of them wanted to wait any longer for coffee and went up all at once.

As soon as they were all in, Ianto closed the door behind them and suggested sitting.

"Alright," Owen said tiredly, after a long sip of coffee. "What kind of gooey alien am I gonna end up carving up this week?"

"Could be space-junk. It's not always weevils," Tosh reasoned.

"Where's Jack? Shouldn't he be briefing us?" Gwen inquired.

"This isn't an assignment, as such," Ianto said. "And Jack wouldn't be remotely pleased with me doing this, but it needs doing."

"What are you talking about? Where's Jack?" Gwen said suspiciously.

"He's gone out. He said he'd be back around 10. And I am under the impression that the reason he went out is that he didn't exactly want to be here when the three of you arrived," Ianto said calmly.

"Why not?" Tosh asked. "Is he angry about something?"

"I'm fairly sure it's not 'angry' but 'upset.' I read the reports from yesterday – thanks for getting them done, by the way. Obviously, I wasn't there, so I have only those reports to go by. Now I think it's about time I filed a report to all of you. It's probably well overdue, but I'm sure you'll understand."

"Is there a point to all this, tea-boy?" Owen huffed.

"You bet there is," Ianto said shortly. "The point is that I'm not accepting those uniquely punctual reports from yesterday." Ianto took out a folder and handed them back.

"I'll take them again when they're written by Torchwood _professionals_, instead of indignant students. And I know this isn't up to me to say, but I think you all ought to know it – this job is rough. Believe me when I say I know _exactly_ how bad it can get. But none of us has ever taken the worst of it. At the end of the day, any one of us can go home, run a bath, drink half a bottle of wine, fall into bed and let it go. Jack doesn't get a single one of those luxuries. This job breaks his heart at least a half-dozen times every month. He deals with more of it than any of us, he has no retreat, and he doesn't always know the answers. So, the next time one of you thinks he hasn't done enough to help, you do his work for a week and let me know if you can do it better."

Ianto set the empty report folder on the table, picked up the coffee tray, and headed for the door.

"Oh… and anyone who wants caffeine in their coffee this week will find the café on the Plass most accommodating."


End file.
